The Blender Situation
by Kiwi Bloodstain
Summary: Vexen has developed a chemical that can make the Nobodies feel emotions temporarily. What happens when it gets in the hands of the mischevious Axel and Demyx? Utter. Chaos. T to be safe. Please review! Finished!
1. The Discovery

Hello! This is my first story, w00t! I won't say much, but all I will say is if you came here looking for gay pairings or yaoi, I'm sorry to say you won't find that here. I don' believe in the pairings. What I do enjoy is the funny fanfics, and this is one of them. If I get enough feedback, I'll continue with the story! This isn't "Crack", I thought this out and I wrote it trying to keep each character's dignity mostly intact (For the time being... Though Demyx is a little more spacy...He's my favorite character. =3) Please review so I'll know people are interested in seeing more! If you're going to flame me for not making this a yaoi, don't bother reviewing. Thanks!

Enjoy!

* * *

It was yet another dull day in the Castle that Never Was. We find our favorite sitar player, Demyx, doing the very thing that he is best at; absolutely nothing. In the Lounge area of the castle, he was sitting on the couch, resting his elbow on the arm of the chair with his chin in his hand, trying to think of SOMETHING to do. Of course, he had his sitar, but sometimes even that can get a little old. And, thanks to Larxene getting angry when Zexion beat her at Wii Sports, the Wii was no longer working. Demyx was on the verge of getting the high score in Guitar Hero, too...poor guy.

"C'mon, think!" Demyx whined to himself, heaving a sigh. "There's gotta be something I can do today!" He tapped his temple lightly with his index finger, deep in thought...and for Demyx, "deep in thought" meant "Rave Party." Thus, a huge Rave Party began to engulf the Nocturne's train of thought.

"I can always assign you to a mission." he heard Saïx's voice, who had overheard the blonde as he was walking down the hall, and made his way into the Lounge. The hairs on the back of Demyx's neck bristled as he realized he was, in truth, NOT at a Rave Party. He was on the verge of being recruited for yet another pointless mission, the last thing he wanted to do. He had to come up with a good excuse, and FAST!

"You know...now that I think about it...I...uh...I have to go get my...uh...my toaster!"

"Your....toaster?" The Luna Diviner said in disbelief, his brow arching as his eyes bore into Demyx's back.

"Yeah! I let Axel borrow my toaster! Gottagogetitnowthanksbye!" Before Saïx could blink, Demyx was gone.

"....I thought we just had one communal toaster..." he mumbled to himself.

* * *

_Phew, what a clever excuse_, Demyx praised himself as he sprinted through the many different corridors in the Castle towards Axel's room. _Only I could have come up with it!!!_ This is also coming from the same person who, instead of choosing the most efficient mode of transportation such as the portal to get from one part of the Castle ALL the way to the other, decided to sprint the long distance. Perhaps it gave him more time to spend with that Rave Party of his. We'll never know.

Eventually, he made it to where the Organization members had their rooms, and just as he got to Axel's door, there was a large explosion of sound coming from the room opposite of Axel's. This caused Demyx to jump a little in surprise, followed by a small yelp. Axel's door suddenly opened, followed by the blazing redhead's grumpy voice.

"Could you keep it down over there?! Geez, some of us are trying to get some SLEEP here!" Axel snarled.

"You sleep on your days off, Axel? That's no fun." Demyx said, popping his head from the side of the door to look at him. Axel looked back at the Nocturne and scratched his head, yawning softly.

"I try to catch up on my sleep." He leaned in closer to the blonde, pointing at his bright emerald eyes. "See? No bags."

Demyx was about to reply with a funny-yet-not-on-topic comeback until another explosion of sound came from the room across Axel's.

"Good GOD!" Axel snarled once more, directing his attention back to the room.

"Whose room is that?" Demyx asked, now curious.

"It's Vexen's, and I've been hearing that same explosion for the past hour, and I'm frankly sick of it." With clenched fists, Axel walks briskly towards the door and pounds it with his fist.

"Vexen, open the door!" Axel shouted.

No reply.

"I'm giving you to the count of 5 to open this door!"

No answer.

"One....Two...Five!" Axel raises his leg and kicks the door in, with enough force to break it off its hinges and fall to the floor with a very loud thud.

"Whoa, nice." Demyx face lit up with surprise.

"You see, if you actually go and do your missions, you might get a little stronger." Axel replied sarcastically, looking over his shoulder with a smile.

"How DARE you barge in here like this!" The voice belonging to Vexen hissed from within.

"Well how dare YOU interrupt my nap?" Axel shot back, stomping into the room, with Demyx in hot pursuit behind him. Things were starting to get interesting.

The first thing Axel and Demyx notice about the room was how much more colorful it was than the rest of the member's rooms. Of course, the colors were coming from the different array of chemicals Vexen had strewn around his room, with what looked like a rusted mixing machine off in the corner. Smoke was coming from every crack, making it look like a deadly firecracker on the verge of exploding. Vexen stood by the machine with two different vials in his hands, one green and one purple.

"You know, that outdated blender of yours is making a lot of noise, and it's making a lot of us upset." Axel said, pointing at the machine with his index finger. Vexen huffed and turned his back on the pair.

"By "a lot of us," you mean you? And this is NOT a blender."

"That's besides the point."

"Watcha makin, Vexen?" Demyx piped in, totally changing the subject. He couldn't help it, there were so many pretty colors, and they reminded him of his Rave Party.

"At least someone cares about my scientific findings!" Vexen beamed, still messing with the contraption. "Although he may have the attention span of a goldfish..." He turned to the two and laid a hand on the top of the machine and smiled as though he were presenting a son to his grandparents. "This is a Chemical Reaction Merging Diluting Equalizer."

"A wha...?" Demyx said, his eye twitching a bit as his brain tried to compute the machine's name.

"A blender." Axel replied, folding his arms. "A big, fancy, rusty blender."

"It's NOT a blender!"

"Seeing as it has the word "merging" in it, it goes down as a "blender" in my book."

Vexen heaved a sigh through gritted teeth before taking a deep breath and continuing. "The Chemical Reaction Merging Diluting Equalizer-"

"CRMDE!" Demyx interrupted with a bright smile on his face. Vexen twitched. Demyx quickly settled down.

"....The "CRMDE" is a little something I came up with recently." He looked up above Axel and Demyx's heads as though he were giving some sort of important speech. "We Nobodies have gone without emotions for quite some time. Some of us can't even remember how it feels to...well, feel. One day while I was deep in my studies, I had an epiphany."

"Ooh! Ooh!!!!!" Demyx had raised his hand, flailing it about wildly. Rolling his eyes, Vexen replied, "Yes, Demyx?"

"What's an..epifanei?"

"It's when you stick a fork in an electric socket and realize you aren't supposed to do that. Got it memorized?" Axel said, a smug smile crossing his face. Though he'd never want to bring harm to a buddy of his like Demyx, he couldn't help but wonder if Demyx would actually try it.

"Thank you...for the idiot's version, Axel." Vexen sighed. Axel shrugged in response.

"Anyhow," Vexen continued, clearing his throat. "I wondered, "what if I could find a temporary solution to this problem? What if I could make us "feel", even if for a few hours?"

"What's your point, Vexen?" Axel huffed. He really wasn't all that interested in Vexen's experiments; he had a date and her name was Bed.

"My point is, I've come up with a chemical concoction that can allow you to feel a specific emotion! Love, Wrath, Sadness, Despair, Lust, Happiness, Greed, anything a Somebody can feel!!!" Vexen smiled like a little school girl, and that creeped both Demyx and Axel out.

"So we can feel again?" Demyx asked, his face lighting up.

"Well, only for an hour or so. But it's not complete yet, it hasn't been tested. Once I get the final product, I'll be sure to let you know." Vexen's view shifted from the two members to the broken down door on his floor, and he sighed in dismay. "Now if you'll excuse me...I guess I have a door to fix." He summons a portal to somewhere in the castle where he could find parts to fix the door. Before he left, he looked at the two of them and said in a serious tone, "Don't. Touch. Anything." and with that, he was gone.

A few seconds passed by in silence. Demyx looked at Axel. Axel looked at Demyx.

"Dude," Demyx finally broke the silence, pointing to the purple vial on the CRMDE. "I'll pay you 100 munny if you taste it."

* * *

Will Axel take Demyx's bribe?

Will Vexen be able to get his door fixed?!?!?!

WILL AXEL GET TO TAKE HIS NAP?!?!?!?

Find out in the next chapter ;D

(Note: Taking into consideration that 100 munny is not that much in Kingdom Hearts, it's not equal to 100 dollars. Just in case. :P)


	2. A Bad Day

"You serious?" Axel asked, arching a red brow.

"Yeah!" He wanted to know what this magical chemical would do, and he tried to recruit Axel as the guinea pig. "C'mon, he isn't here to see!"

"But he said not to touch anything, and I'll take a crack at Fate and guess if he found out, we would be deep trouble."

There was a pause. Again, Demyx looked at Axel, and Axel looked at Demyx.

"Give me the vial." Axel said, an impish smile crossing his face. Demyx squealed in excitement and quickly grabbed the vial, almost dropping it. Axel's eyes widened and he quickly snatched it away before he could break it. At first, Axel just looked at the vial, holding it up a little to look at the bottom of it to be sure there wasn't some kind of animal or something in it (You never know, when it comes to Vexen.) He swished the liquid around a little, still not completely convinced.

"C'mon, we don't have all day, he'll be back soon!" Demyx whined, looking out the door every few seconds.

"Ok, ok, fine!" Axel replied tersely, and before he could second guess himself again, he brought the vial to his lips and took a sip of the liquid. He expected it to be horrible, but it was actually, in fact, rather sweet-tasting. He quickly pulled it away before he could drink the whole thing, licking his lower lip to rid any trace of it in case it stained his lips.

"Well?" Demyx asked impatiently, looking at Axel with an excited grin. "Feel anything?"

Axel smacked his lips a little before looking up at the ceiling, then back at Demyx with a shrug.

"Nope."

"Aw..." Demyx's expression quickly changed to that of disappointment. Axel rolled his eyes.

"He did say it wasn't finished, you know. " Axel leaned over to put the vial back in it's place on the CRMDE. It was missing about half of the liquid, but he doubted that Vexen would notice.

"I guess so..." Demyx started to tip toe towards the door. "So...because it didn't work, I don't have to pay you, right?"

"Wrong!" Axel snapped his head around to meet Demyx's gaze. "That munny is mine! Pay up, you cheapskate!"

"And this is where I exit!!!" Demyx bolted out of the room, Axel charging after him.

"Come back here with my munny!!!!!"

* * *

For a few moments, the hallway was dead silent, until the crackling sound of an opening portal echoed off of the walls, and a very tired Roxas came into view. He had spent all day in Wonderland, tracking down one of those annoying Emerald Serenade heartless that NEVER. STOPPED. MOVING, and in the labyrinth at that. The boy yawned softly as he walked past Axel's room and noticed the door was ajar. Curious, he peeked inside, only to find the room dark.

_That's wierd_, Roxas thought._ I thought he said he wasn't feeling well today...did he fake getting sick?_ He huffed irratably. _So I got stuck with his mission. He owes me BIG time for this_.

He suddenly heard a grunt from the opposite room. He looked to see Vexen desperately trying to lift his door off the ground, but with no luck. He then looked up and saw Roxas, a scowl curling upon his lips.

"You enjoying yourself, boy?" Vexen said sharply.

"Uh...I just got here." Roxas replied, a little taken aback from Vexen's tone. Vexen shook his head.

"You could at least make yourself useful and help me with this door."

"Sure..." The last thing Roxas wanted to do at that moment was lift a heavy object, but it seemed as though he was being recruited to do so. He stepped inside Vexen's room, too tired to notice all of the array of colors that Tweedle Dee and Dum had noticed earlier, and reluctantly helped Vexen push his door back into place. Roxa's muscles burned from the weight of the door; it looked a lot lighter than it actually was.

"Now sit in front of it so it won't fall down." Vexen commanded. Heaving another sigh, the blond plopped down on the floor with his back propped against the back of the door. Vexen took out a small toolbox that he had found and began to repair the door's hinges. That's finally when Roxas looked up and saw all of the chemicals, bubbling and sizzling in their beakers and vials as the CRMDE buzzed softly,l cooling down from it's previous temper tantrum.

"What happened to your door?" Roxas asked, the awkward silence starting to get to him. Vexen peered over his shoulder at the boy before going back to repairing the door.

"Your flaming red-headed friend got upset with me and kicked my door in."

Roxa's eyes widened. "Really?" He knew Axel was strong, but strong enough to kick this heavy door right off it's hinges? _Remind me not to upset him,_ he thought to himself.

"Yes, really." Vexen got to his feet and was about to repair the top hinge when he stopped himself. "I guess I'll turn my CRMDE back on since he's gone," he muttered under his breath, setting the tools to the side and walking towards the rusty machine, and turning it on with the flick of a switch. Suddenly the soft buzzing turned into sharp whistles, and the CRMDE went into another frenzy, smoking from every crack and shaking violently like a sackful of rabid cats. The noise startled the drowsy Roxas, hitting his head on the back of the door with a loud _THUNK._

"Ow!" Roxas cried, grasping the back of his head. This definitely wasn't the Keyblade wielder's day.

"Wait a minute...." He heard Vexen say inquizitively. He looked up and saw the mad scientist looking at a vial containing purple liquid.

"What's that?" Roxas asked, still rubbing his sore head. Vexen ignored him, but his face twisted into an expression of horror.

"Oh no...." Vexen growled, "They drank some of the prototype! I told them not to touch anything!" Vexen quickly turned to Roxas. "You! Go find that insolent friend of yours and bring him here to me before he turns the Castle upside down!"

"Why, what's wrong?" Roxas asked in a worried tone, his mind full of questions for Vexen that he was fairly certain he wasn't going to get answers to.

"I'll explain later, it's important you go find Axel and bring him back here!"

"But what about-"

"GET MOVING!"

That's all Roxas needed to hear. In a flash, the boy jumped to his feet and flung the door open and tore down the hallway calling Axel's name. Unfortunately, because Vexen had not finished repairing the door, when Roxas opened it, the door snapped off it's lower hinge and came crashing down once again. Vexen snarled as the threw the vial across the room and it smashed against the wall.

"NOT AGAIN!"

* * *

Uh ohz....What's going to happen to Axel? ;

Will Vexen get his door fixed?

Find out in Chapter 3!

Hehehe.....this is going to be fun.... ;3


	3. No Demyx, He's Not a Coke Machine

The adrenaline rush that Roxas had felt when he first took off from Vexen's room was starting to wear off, leaving him more tired than he was before. He had been running throughout the maze of hallways in the Castle to which he wasn't very familiar with, due to the fact that he actually uses his head and uses portals to get to wherever he needed to go. Breathing heavily, he decided to take a short break to catch his breath. He propped his hand up against the wall and leaned forward, taking deep breaths.

"..A...A-Axel..!" Roxas called out hoarsely, hoping that the Flurry would hear him, but just like the past 57 times he called his name, there was no response.

_Why is he never around when I need him_, Roxas thought to himself, his brow furrowing. _I don't even know what the big deal is anyways. What's the worst that could have happened from drinking some of that stuff, a stomach ache? _Maybe this is some sort of prank. Convinced this was indeed a prank, Roxas began looking back and forth for Axel or Demyx, expecting either one to jump out at him and laugh until they cried.

"Ok guys...this isn't funny! I'm really tired...! Whatever you did, just go back and apologize or something, seriously!"

As if on cue, Demyx came tearing down the hall, with Axel in hot pursuit.

"I don't have any on me, I swear!" Demyx cried as he zoomed right past Roxas, not even noticing the poor boy.

"We'll see about that!" Axel replied, and with a deep breath, the Flurry leaped forward in a last resort attempt to tackle Demyx to the ground. He missed his shoulders, but was able to grab the back of Demyx's coat, dragging him to the ground with a loud _THUD_. Demyx cried out in pain, to which Axel immediately stuck a hand in one of Demyx's coat pocket. He smirked as he pulled out a small blue drawstring bag, plump with munny. As an insult to injury, Axel decided to sit on Demyx's back, pinning the Nocturne beneath him.

"Get off!" Demyx whined, failing about to knock Axel off his back, but Axel ignored the attempts, emptying the contents of the bag into his palm.

"If you'd have paid up earlier, you wouldn't be in this position, now would you?" Axel sneered as he began to count out his reward.

"Seriously, get off! You have a bony butt!!!!"

"Well hey there, Roxas." Axel said, noticing the boy slouched up against the wall and smiled at him, ignoring Demyx's pleas. Roxas perked a brow at the amusing sight before him, but decided to not ask questions.

"Uh, hey Axel..." Roxas huffed.

"You look beat. What have you been doing all day?"

"Doing the mission YOU skipped out on." Roxas perked a brow.

"Skipped? No." Axel wiggled a little in his new seat, causing more pain for Demyx's back and making him whine louder. "I told you I didn't feel good." He didn't want to admit that he did fake sickness to get out of that particular mission. NOBODY wanted to do missions that involved those stupid Serenades.

"You look fine now to me." Roxas rolled his eyes, but suddenly remembered why he was here in the first place. "Speaking of that, did you drink some of Vexen's purple stuff?"

This made Axel and Demyx both turn silent. They looked at each other before looking back at Roxas.

"Maybe?" Axel replied, putting the excess munny back into the little bag and stuffing his earnings into his pocket.

"It's not that big of a deal," Demyx huffed, propping up his chin with his arm and tapping the floor with his other hand. "It's obvious it didn't do anything. Now will you please get off?" He whimpered softly.

"Nope. I'm actually quite comfortable." Axel joked, dropping the bag in front of Demyx.

"What was it supposed to do?" Roxas asked in a curious tone.

"It was supposed to make us Nobodies feel an emotion temporarily," Axel stated, tapping on the Nocturne's head. "And this one bet me to drink some. I did, but nothing happened. And now here we are."

"Don't touch my hair!" Demyx barked, smacking Axel's hand away. "You know how long it takes for me to get it like this?"

"Ah ah ah," Axel shook his finger at his victim. "Now you have to spend another 5 minutes like this."

"A drink that lets us feel emotions?" Roxas murmured to himself. _That would have been so cool if it actually worked, _he thought. _Then again...if Xemnas found out, he'd probably get really upset. Still, _Roxas smiled a little to no one in particular. _It would have been nice to know what it's like to feel...._

Suddenly, Axel burst out laughing, but this wasn't like Axel's usual soft laughter; this was hearty, loud laughter, and quite frankly, this was very unlike him. He lost his balance on Demyx's back and fell backward, landing on his back and causing his newly acquired munny to fall out of his pocket and hit the floor with a jiingling noise. Demyx made a mad dash for freedom while Axel was caught in his own laughing hissy fit.

"What's so funny?" Roxas asked, a little surprised at the sudden outburst. Demyx just stared at him wide-eyed and speechless. He had been in the Organization longer than Roxas, and not once had he ever heard Axel laugh like this.

"S-Stop tickling me...!!!" Axel cried, hugging his sides and wiggling as if to break himself free from someones grasp.

"Neither of us is even touching you, Axel."

"W-Well neither o-of you-u are h-h-helping!!! M-Make it st-stop!!!"

"I say we just leave him," Demyx whispered keenly, looking over at Roxas with a smug grin. Roxas snickered a little at the thought, but he knew that it would be the wrong thing to do.

"If we leave him like this," Roxas said, pointing down the hallway, "He might get everyone's attention...including Xemnas'. What are we gonna tell him if he finds Axel like this?"

"You're right!" Demyx replied, his eyes dialating. "Crap, I broke Axel!" He began pacing back and forth. "What do I do, what do I do?!?!?" He turned to Axel and threw his munny bag at him. "Here, take it all! I'm sorry I didn't pay up! Take it!" When he saw that this method was not effective, he picked up a coin and proceeded to poke Axel with it around his torso. "Maybe there's a coin slot somewhere..."

"You i-idiot! I-I'm n-n-not a freak-kin' Coke ma-machine!!!! Y-you're making it w-worse!!" Axel snarled through his laughter.

"Um...I don't think "broke" is the right terminology," said Roxas, both amused and embarassed at Demyx's attempts to silence Axel, "but maybe there's something in Vexen's room that could..."fix" him?"

"Yea! I'll go look, you stay here and try to keep him quiet!" With that, Demyx sprinted down the hallway towards the scientist's room. Roxas looked down at his friend, who had tears rolling down his cheeks because he was laughing so hard. Roxas had no idea where to start; how do you stop someone...or something..from tickling someone when you can't even see it?

"Axel, you need to be quiet, before everyone notices!" Roxas said, crouching beside him and shaking him rather violently, not knowing anything else to do. At first, it didn't seem like it did anything, but after a few moments, Axel seemed to calm down a little, his hearty laughter turning into small chuckles. Just as Roxas was about to relax, it looked as if something clicked in Axel's emerald green eyes, an off switch clicking to the on position. The redhead quickly sat up, knocking Roxas back, and jumped to his feet, still giggling giddily to himself as his slender form shook noticeably.

"Um...Axel...?" Axel looked down at Roxas at the sound of his name, and Roxas could see Axel's expression had totally changed; there was a wild look in the Flurry's eyes, and it frightened him.

"Hey!" Axel shouted, pointing right in Roxa's face, just barely an inch from his nose and snickering. "You see that?"

Roxas tried to focus on the finger, making him look cross-eyed. "See what?"

Axel laughed just as hard as he did before. "HAHAHAHA, I MADE YOU CROSS-EYED! WIN!!!!" He started to do a little "victory dance" for his supposed "win." Roxas slowly rose to his feet, hoping to quietly slip away before anything else happened. He wasn't that lucky.

"Heyhey, c'mon, yougottatrythis!" Axel piped in an excited tone, extending his left arm outward and a ring of flames traveled down the length of the arm until one of his chakrams appeared in his hand. He threw it forward as if he were throwing a Frisbee and quickly jumped on it, the chakram flying down the hall with a hyped up Axel spinning on top of it at an impressive speed. Roxas was completely shocked at what he was seeing.

"Yeeeeehawwwwwww!!!!" Axel cheered as he U-turned at the end of the hallway and came right back in Roxa's direction, spinning like a top and giggling like a madman.

"Axel, get off of that, it looks dangerous!" Roxas cried desperately as Axel zoomed past him.

"Dangerous? Of course not!" Axel replied, and with a snap of his fingers, the chakram was surrounded in a ring of blistering fire. "**NOW** it's dangerous!!!!!!!"

"Are you crazy?!?!"

"Nope,** I'M HYPER**!" He had U-turned at the end of the hallway again, and quickly snatched up Roxas as he flew past him. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room on the chakram for the both of them, so Axel just held Roxas by his hood as they were spinning at an amazing speed, the flames of the chakrams licking the back of Roxa's coat. As if that wasn't bad enough, he could feel his small body slowly beginning to slide out of the coat. Roxas cried out in terror as they came towards the end of the hallway, where Axel turned sharply and the two disappeared into another hallway.

"Weeeeeeeeeeeee!" Axel cheered in excitement.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!!!!" Roxas cried in terror, their voices fading as Axel took them deeper into the Castle, where the chaos would soon ensue.

* * *

Thanks to all the people who have read and enjoyed this story so far! But it's far from over, folks! It looks like Axel's hyper tantrum is just getting started, and he's taking the reluctant Roxas along for the ride.

What will happen if this spreads to everyone else...? Will Demyx be able to find a cure or will Axel burn the entire Castle to the ground first?

Find out in chapter 4!


	4. The Cake is a Lie

Intro: Don't worry, I haven't died! It's been the Thanksgiving week and such, so I've been very busy. Homelife is stressful, so that gave me a bit of writer's block. But I'm back, with the 4th chapter! =3 Let's get started, then!

* * *

After doing some serious backtracking and following the sound of the racket the CRMDE was making, Demyx finally made it back to Vexen's room. He cautiously peeked his head inside and saw that Vexen was not present. He noticed the door was still on the floor as they had left it, but that was due to the fact that Vexen finally got sick of trying to fix it after the 4th time, and just left it there on the floor and disappeared elsewhere to cool down. Demyx took this opportunity to approach the CRMDE that was in the midst of another temper tantrum.

"Er….How do I turn this thing off…?" Demyx asked no one in particular, looking the machine up and down. He eventually found a switch, and quickly pressed it before sprinting to the other side of the room and covering his head, not sure if it was the power switch or that infamous self destruct button he had seen in movies. Luckily, his ignorant little self was spared, as the CRMDE began to slow down and shut off, steaming and buzzing softly. Once he thought the coast was clear, he approached the machine again. He noticed there were more vials in it this time than before; there vials filled with red, yellow and blue liquid along with the green and purple he and Axel saw earlier.

"Crap…" Demyx scratched his head, not sure of what to do. "Which one of these will make Axel shut up and return to normal?" He started to get a little antsy, knowing that every second he wasted was a second closer to when Xemnas would find Axel and bring down the hammer on Demyx. He had heard about Xemnas'grueling punishments from other members, but he had never experienced them firsthand. He wasn't ready to find out, either.

"I'll take all of them!" He shouted, apparently quite comfortable with talking to himself, and grabbed all 5 of the vials and shoved them into his pockets.

* * *

"Having fun yet?!?!" Axel asked Roxas excitedly as they twisted and turned through the maze of hallways and corridors throughout the Castle. Axel's laughter was quickly overpowered by Roxa's screaming of terror for his very life.

"AXEL! PLEASE LET ME GO!!!!!!!!" Roxas cried, trying to grab his own coat to keep himself from slipping out, and trying to avoid the flames beneath him as much as possible. His stomach was churning from fear and nausea, and he didn't think he could contain it's painful thrashing much longer.

"Such a party pooper!" Axel pouted, but still refused to let go of Roxa's hood as they turned down another hallway. Neither of them had noticed that there was someone at the opposite end of that hallway. And that person didn't realize that they were going to become Axel's second victim.

"AXEL, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD LET ME GO!"

"Alright….you asked for it!" With that, Axel let go of Roxas without stopping, sending the boy sailing down the hallway towards the figure .

"What the-?!!!" was all he person could say before he was nailed (in Demyx-language, "pwned") by Roxas, sending them both to a heap on the floor and a buzzing Axel sailing right over them. At first, Roxas was truly grateful that he was finally free from Axel's rampage and sighed in relief, but the relief was quickly dominated by sickness.

"Get. Off. Now." A calm, yet cool voice hissed in Roxas' ears. Roxas looked and saw that the one he had collided with was none other than Saïx.

"Oh, I'm really sorry!" Roxas stammered as he tried to rise to his feet before his stomach lurched. He clutched his abdomen as his expression quickly became sickened. Saïx scowled and grabbed the boy by the collar and threw him aside.

"Don't even think about it." He said coldly. When Roxas finally got to his feet, he quickly turned his back to Saïx and proceeded to vomit.

"Looks like you can't TAKE THE HEAT!" Axel laughed as he sped back towards Roxas' direction. Afraid that Axel was going to grab him again, Roxas quickly summoned his Keyblade, and with an irritated growl, he struck at Axel as he passed by, sending the Flurry flying off his chakram and into the wall. The chakram burst into flames before dissipating into thin air, leaving Axel plastered against the wall and falling to a heap on the floor.

_Good, that ought to keep him quiet for a little while, _Roxas thought. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case.

"Alley-oop!" Axel piped as he jumped to his feet, quickly loosing his footing and stumbled from extreme dizziness and giggling. "Whoa....these walls are all...spinney lookin'."

"Axel," Saïx called out to him, his brow perked ever so slightly, one of the vey few times Roxas ever saw his face move a single muscle from that "I hate everyone and that means you" expression. "What is wrong with you? This type of ruckus from you is so unlike you."

"Ruck-kus?" Axel stuttered, looking over in Saïx's direction and then at the wall, pointing at it accusingly, still overcome with dizziness. "I'll show youuuuuuu a ruck-kuss!"

"...That is a wall."

"Your mom's face is a wall."

Saïx scowled a little before turning his head in Roxas' direction. "You wouldn't have anything to do with this, by chance?"

"Well...not exactly..."

"It looks like you have some explaining to do." With a flick of his wrist, Saïx summoned two Dusks to restrain the hyped up Axel, each one holding the red-head back with a firm grasp.

"Nooooooo! Don't let them take me awayyyy! I'm too young to get a flu shot!!!" Axel cried as he tried to struggle free, but his efforts were fruitless.

"Stop struggling, it's not going to do you any good." Saïx said.

"THE CAKE!" Axel cried, glaring at him. " IT'S A LIE, ISN'T IT?!?!? I KNEW IT! THE CAKE IS A LIE!"

Roxas facepalmed and sighed.

* * *

"You got a date or somethin', blondie?" Xigbar cackled as Demyx sprinted by the entrance to the kitchen. Demyx had been totally focused on his objective at the time (which was a first for him) until Xigbar made the comment.

"What's it to you?" Demyx shot back, stopping in his tracks and looking over his shoulder. "Uh...Have you seen Axel or Roxas anywhere..?"

The pirate impersonator sipped his cup of coffee before shrugging. "I saw Roxas earlier this morning before mission assignment, haven't seen Axel today. Why?" Xigbar's lip curled into a perverted grin. " Why, is this date a threesome or something?"

"I never said I was on a date!" Demyx fumed, huffing.

"Oh, no reason to get all mad about it!" Xigbar chuckled, shaking his head. "I kinda figured you were a fruitcake."

"I don't even like fruitcake, so why would I be fruitcake?" Demyx stated matter-of-factly. Xigbar frowned and shook his head with a sad sigh.

"It'll be a cold day in hell before you find that brain of yours." He muttered, setting his coffee down on the counter. "Seeing as that stupid Moogle failed to get the paper this morning, I'll go get it myself." Xigbar summoned a portal and began to enter it, then looked back at Demyx with that perverted grin. "Have a nice date!" he cackled before disappearing.

Demyx growled and stomped his foot. "I"M NOT ON A DATE!"

The kitchen became silent. Demyx turned his back and started to walk out the door and muttering to himself before stopping at the doorway. He slowly looked over his shoulder at Xigbar's coffee cup and a mischievous grin curled upon his lips. The Nocturne tiptoed over to the cup and reached into his pocket, pulling out the yellow and blue vials he had taken from the CRMDE. Pulling the cork out of both of them, he quickly poured both of them into the cup, shaking it a little so they would mix into the coffee.

"We'll see who's a fruitcake." Demyx snickered, stuffing the two empty vials back into his pocket an quickly exiting the kitchen, getting back to his original mission. Shortly after, Xigbar came back to the kitchen, newspaper in hand.

"It's kind of ironic how we have a newspaper when we're the only ones here on the World that Never Was..." the pirate impersonater muttered to himself, reaching down and grabbing his coffee cup as his eye was glued to the front page, taking a sip without looking in it.

* * *

I know this one was a tad but short, but the next one will be full of surprises! =3

I see just two chapters remaining, so stay tuned! We'll get to see what happens to our poor pirate friend....

And I'm sorry to say this...but yes, Axel, the cake is a lie.

Stick around for chapter 5!


	5. Chaotic Eruption

Note: Chapter 5 time! This chapter is longer than the other chapters, but this one has alot of action going on in it, yep yep. I wanna thank everyone that reviewed this story, I am so glad everyone enjoys it! Keep the reviews coming, I love to hear people's feedback! Oh, and just to clarify, I have been putting the two dots over Saix's name in previous chapters, but his name comes up so much in this chapter, I decided to be lazy and just use a regular "i". Sorry about that!

* * *

After locating Vexen, Saix met Axel, Roxas, and Vexen in Where Nothing Gathers (their meeting room.) They all sat in their respected chairs, except for Axel, who couldn't stay still long enough, so he was on the meeting room's floor running around with his arms stretched out and making airplane noises as he weaved about the tall chairs. He didn't seem to be doing all that much, so the three just let him do his little thing while they had a discussion.

"So you have been conducting this research without Xemnas' knowledge?" Saix asked Vexen.

"Hmn." Vexen grunted, folding his arms. "I have done plenty of things without his knowledge."

"He is your Superior."

"I'm aware of that! I am not a child!"

"Excuse me for talking out of line," Roxas chimed in as he watched Axel pretend to be an airplane. "But if we keep arguing and yelling, Xemnas might hear us." Vexen and Saix gave the lower ranking member cold stares, but they knew that he was right. Xemnas' office was right across from Where Nothing Gathers, and if they were too loud, they would be met with a very cross Superior.

"Then let's get this over with." Saix said, leaning forward in his chair as he looked at Vexen. "What is this annoying emotion that Number Eight has been afflicted with?"

"It's happiness, but on an extreme scale," Vexen shrugged his shoulders. "you could call it hyper."

"You said these chemicals of yours are temporary, correct?"

"Yes."

"What kind of temporary are we talking about here? One hour?" Vexen's expression changed, and began looking around the room uneasily.

"Well, in theory, yes, but..."

"But what?" Saix's brow furrowed. He was prepared for the worst case scenario.

"I had made this batch a little more potent than intended..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Roxas piped in.

"The effects of this particular batch of chemicals are quite strong. Seeing as he only drank half of the vial, I estimate that Axel's outburst is going to last about..." Vexen cringed a little and muttered something under his breath.

"Come again?" Saix tucked a lock of his blue hair behind his ear, straining to hear the man.

"Twelve hours...?"

"Twelve hours?!" Roxas cried, gripping the arms of his chair to keep from jumping off of it. "What are we supposed do with him for twelve hours?!"

"HAVE A RAVE PARTY!!!!!!" Axel exclaimed, breaking his peaceful streak and began to bounce up and down about the room, making his own rave music beat.

"Hush Axel, or Xemnas will hear you!" Roxas growled, already in a bad mood from how this day was turning out and from getting sick.

"Why dontcha come down from your pretty stool and MAKE ME?!" Roxas gripped the arms of his chair tighter, resisting with every fiber of his being the very urge to do just that.

"That's enough!" Saix's voice boomed, silencing both of them. Roxas leaned back in his chair fuming, drawing his deep blue eyes to a close to take a moment to calm down. _I didn't want to yell at him_, Roxas thought to himself. _But twelve hours?! How are we going to keep him a secret from Xemnas for that long? He will turn us all into Dusks if he finds out... I've got to calm down so I can think clearly. _He opened his eyes and looked down at Axel, who was sitting on the floor and had pulled off his boots, playing with them like race cars._ I won't let Xemnas turn Axel into a Dusk, I promise that much!_

"Getting back on track..." Saix continued, looking back at Vexen. "Do you have some sort of antidote that will eliminate this problem?"

"Unfortunately, no." Vexen sighed. "I haven't gotten that far along in my research to come up with one yet."

"Wait, there's no antidote..?" Roxas asked, looking up at Vexen in disbelief.

"I already said once that I don't, boy!" Vexen snarled back.

"But Demyx went back to the room to find some..."

"Demyx did what?" Vexen's eyes widened, his expression changing from anger to shock.

"Demyx went back to your room to find an antidote to make Axel calm down." Roxas replied uneasily. _I have a bad feeling about this..._

"You fool!" Vexen slammed his fist on the arm of his chair. "Demyx can hardly tell the difference between a tomato and a potato! What makes you think he would know what the antidote looks like, even if it DID exist?!"

* * *

At the other end of the Castle, Demyx was still searching for Axel and Roxas, completely unaware of what has been going on for the past few hours. He was quite happy with himself after pulling that stunt on Xigbar, and was lost in thought as he wondered what kind of emotion Xigbar would feel once the chemical took effect that he didn't notice someone else coming around the corner, and ran into them head on.

"OW!" The two yelled as they fell to the floor with a loud THUD. Demyx rubbed his now sore head gently as he stuck his hand in his pocket to be sure none of the vials had broken in the fall.

"Watch where you're going!" Demyx growled, looking up at the one he had run into. Before him was Zexion, who had one hand on his forehead and the other grasping for a rather large book beside him.

"I beg your pardon?" Zexion replied, his brow perking as he got to his feet. "You're the one who ran into me."

"Well you would have seen me coming if you didn't have your nose buried in that big book of yours." Zexion rolled his eyes and opened the book, flipping through a few pages to find his place and merely stepped over Demyx and continued down the hallway without another word. Demyx got to his feet and had another brilliant idea.

"Hey Zexion, wait a sec!" The Nocturne called, rushing to Zexion's side and putting an arm around his shoulders. "Have you tried some of Xaldin's new fruit drink he made? It's really delicious!" Demyx said, giving him a big grin. Zexion's gaze shifted from his book to Demyx.

"Um...no...I don't believe I have." Zexion replied, not quite sure what to make of this weird and sudden gesture of friendship just seconds after their confrontation.

"Well luckily for you," Demyx said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the green vial, shaking it in front of Zexion's gaze, "I happen to have some right here with me."

"You carry drinks in your pocket?" Zexion asked, his brow perking from slight disgust.

"Oh, I just got it from the kitchen." Demyx placed the vial in Zexion's hand and turned on his heel, running back down the hallway that lead towards Where Nothing Gathers and Xemnas' office. "Well you can keep it! I'll see you later, bye!" With that, Demyx disappeared. Zexion looked from where Demyx had left then down at his hand that was holding the vial. He closed the book he had been reading and put it under his arm as he took the cork out of the vial. _I guess one taste wouldn't hurt, _Zexion thought, _I was feeling a bit thirsty anyways..._ He tilted his head back as he downed all of the "drink", wiping his mouth with his sleeve. His expression suddenly twisted as his lips puckered up, his book falling to the floor. _What the..?!?! IT'S REALLY SOUR!!!!! What kind of fruit drink is this?!_

* * *

"I knew it!" Vexen lamented as he fell to his knees before his precious CRMDE. "He took every single one of my vials!!! That idiot is running around the Castle with my vials!!" Roxas took a few steps back from Vexen, slightly creeped out by Vexen's cries.

"Roxxyyy," Axel said, addressing Roxas by his apparent new nickname as he bounced from one foot to the other behind the Keyblade Wielder. "Why is Vexen acting like his puppy dieded?"

"Axel, please," Saix looked over at the Flurry with his infamous cold stare. "Do us all a favor and be quiet."

"Look what I can do!" Axel piped, completely ignoring Saix, and balled his hand into a fist and attempted to shove it into his mouth. Roxas happened to look over his shoulder just in time and quickly jumped on Axel.

"Don't do that, your hand will get stuck!!" Roxas scolded, trying to pry Axel's fist away from his mouth. Axel quickly spun around, sending Roxas flying into a wall. Roxas hit the wall hard enough to get the breath knocked out of him for a moment, and a shelf full of bubbling and sizzling chemicals above him came crashing down on the floor.

"Oopsies." Axel whimpered as he put on an innocent little grin.

"MY EXPERIMENTS!!!!" Vexen screamed, rushing over to where Roxas was. Roxas extended a hand upward, thinking Vexen was going to help him up, but the mad scientist completely ignored him and tried to pick up the broken glass to salvage even a drop of the contents of the assorted vials and bottles.

"Oh yeah, I'm totally ok." Roxas huffed as he struggled to his feet. "Don't mind me, the one who can't breathe."

Just as it seemed a fight was going to break out, they heard a painful wail coming from down the hallway, followed by loud sobbing. Axel, for no apparent reason, ran screaming in the opposite direction.

"THE CAKE REALLY IS REAL!!!!!!!" He screamed as he ran down the hall. "IT'S GOING TO KILL US ALL!!!!!!!!" Saix quickly summoned a pair of Dusks and instructed them to tail Axel and apprehend him. After they had disappeared, Vexen, Saix, and Roxas went down the hall to investigate. They saw a figure huddled in the corner, whimpering and sobbing like crazy. At first, Roxas couldn't tell who it was, until he noticed the white streaks in the figure's long, black hair.

It was Xigbar.

"I'm such a joke!" Xigbar cried through his tears, his form shivering violently. Roxas just stared at Xigbar in shock. Of all people, Roxas thought Xigbar would be the last person he would see cry. _Why is he acting like this, _Roxas thought. _Oh no! Maybe Demyx got Xigbar to drink some of Vexen's chemicals!_

"What is the meaning of this, Xigbar?" Saix asked coldly, completely unamused by the sight. Xigbar cried out and jumped, startled at the sound of Saix's voice, and turned his head to look at the trio.

"I bet you all came to make fun of me, didn't you?!" Xigbar whined accusingly."Why are you all so mean to me?!??!"

"Quit your whining and pull yourself together." Xigbar turned back to the wall and buried his face into his knees, sniffling softly.

"I'm sorry..." Xigbar whimpered. "I'm just really sad..."

"Um...what happened..?" Roxas dared to ask. Xigbar looked back over his shoulder cautiously before turning around to face the trio, his back against the corner and his head bowed as he stared at the floor.

"I was in the kitchen earlier...drinking my coffee like I usually do," Xigbar began, wiping his tears away from his eye with his sleeve. "and I saw Demyx."

"Wait, you met Demyx?" Vexen asked, his eyes widening. "How long ago did you see him?"

"I guess...about 20 minutes ago..." Xigbar replied, shaking his head. "I...I called him a fruitcake!" Xigbar started to bawl, covering his hands with his face. "I bet he hates me now! What am I going to do?! I'll never be able to pick on him again if he hates me...!"

"What the hell is all this cryin' about?!" A female voice snarled from behind them. Roxas looks over his shoulder to see Larxene stomping her way over to the little group, her face twisted into a scowl of irritation. Before Roxas could react, she pushed him away from the door he had been standing in front of, making him stumble forward a little.

"What was that for?" Roxas asked in the most non-threatening way possible, knowing that if he was terse with her, he might not walk away alive.

"You're in front of my door, that's what!" She barked, opening her mouth to chew Roxas out further until Xigbar caught her eye. "And what are you crying about?"

"I'm on an emotional roller coaster!" Xigbar cried, shaking his head as he still covered his face. Larxene scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Join the club, we meet once a month!!" She said, opening her door and quickly slamming it behind her.

_What does she mean by "we meet once a month", _Roxas thought, his brow perking in confusion. _I don't remember there bein-- EW!! _Roxas felt like he was going to gag. Again.

"SHUT THE BLOODY HELL UP!" Another voice yelled from behind them. Zexion stormed up towards the group with murder flashing in his eyes. Roxas' eyes widened in fear; he had never seen Zexion so angry before.

"And what are you yelling about?!" Vexen asked Zexion, crossing his arms.

"I'M PISSED OFF, THAT'S WHAT I'M YELLING ABOUT!" Zexion snarled through clenched teeth. "I WAS JUST MINDIN' MY OWN BUSINESS WHEN THAT KNUCKLEHEAD DEMYX RAN INTO ME! HE MADE ME RIP MY PAGE IN MY BOOK!"

"You saw Demyx, too?!" Roxas asked in a surprised tone. _It's all starting to make sense. Demyx must have given them some of the chemicals!_

"YEA I SAW HIM," Zexion fumed, his hands curling into a pair of fists. "HE GAVE ME SOME OF XALDIN'S NEW FRUIT PUNCH OR WHATEVER, AND IT TASTED HORRIBLE! I'M GONNA TEAR HIS SORRY ASS A NEW ONE!"

"Now that you mention it," Xigbar whimpered as he rose to his feet. "I was feeling perfectly fine until Demyx showed up...then I got all sad and scared..."

"I knew it!" Vexen cried. "He's giving everyone my chemicals! First Axel, then Xigbar, then Larxene and Zexion!"

"Actually...." Xigbar sniffled and wiped his nose with his sleeve. "Larxene's always mean like that...she's always mean...." Vexen glanced up at the ceiling and gave a small nod.

"Well, I guess you're right about that one."

Roxas just stood there among the arguing adults, just trying to process everything that was going on. _Axel is running around somewhere in the Castle screaming about cake, Xigbar is crying like a baby, and Zexion looks like he's about to become a serial killer, _Roxas thought. He stomped his foot on the floor and let out a frustrated groan. _What the heck is up with this day?! Everything is going completely crazy! _

"Everyone needs to calm down, right now." Saix finally spoke for the first time in a little while, giving everyone around him a warning glare.

"WHAT, YOU WANNA START SOMETHIN, WOLF BOY?!" Zexion scoffed, posing as if he was ready to fight. Saix shot Zexion a menacing stare as his blue hair bristled as it always did before Saix entered his Berserk form.

"I SAID. Calm down." Saix hissed. Everyone grew quiet; even Zexion backed away a little bit, but still posed for a fight. Roxas just looked down at the floor, averting everyone's gaze. He didn't want to be caught in the middle of Saix's wrath. Saix's hair began to settle, and the poisonous look in his eyes faded as he took a deep breath. "Now," he said, looking at everyone around him. "We need to find Demyx before he causes any more mayhem. Zexion, Xigbar, do you know where he might be?"

Xigbar shook his head.

"I saw the dumb ass make his way towards Xemnas' office." Zexion fumed, looking off to the side as he folded his arms.

Saix, Roxas and Vexen looked at each other in horror.

"We have to get to him before he gets to Xemnas!" Roxas cried.

* * *

I know this chapter was a bit long, but like I said, there was alot going on in this chapter! It seems like Demyx has one last trick in mind....will Roxas and company find Demyx before it's too late? Find out in the final chapter, coming soon!

Where is Axel, anyway...?


	6. Wildfire

_A/N: Ah, here we are, at the final chapter of this (slightly weird) adventure! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, its the reviews that keep me going! Please keep sending them in! I'm glad you've enjoyed the series so far, but here we come to the end. Sorry it took me so long. I had a little bit of real life trouble. _

_Also, sorry for double posting. I noticed a few errors that I had overlooked the first time, i.e, I accidentally put Axel's number as XIII instead of VIII. I'm very picky about my writing sometimes, so I had to change it, sorry if it was an inconvenience._

Enjoy!

_

* * *

__.::Right after Demyx met Zexion (approx. 15 minutes earlier)…::._

We find the daunting Superior within his office, which was a room with shelves lined with the books, files, and research from his horrifying experiments he had preformed as Xehanort. One wall facing out from the Castle was made entirely of glass, with the heart-shaped golden moon known as Kingdom Hearts could be seen in the distance. Xemnas sat in a lavish-looking gray leather chair, facing the glass wall as he stared up at Kingdom Hearts, silently contemplating his next move to increase its growth.

Meanwhile, right outside his office doors, Demyx stood there contemplating whether to go inside and ask Xemnas if he had seen Axel or Roxas or not.

"If I go in there, he might get mad at me for not having a good reason to bother him," Demyx muttered to himself, rubbing his chin. "Then again, if I ask him and he says he hasn't then that means he hasn't found about Axel…" He smiled a little. "And I'll be in the clear!"

_Tap tap tap._

The faint tapping caught Xemnas' attention, averting his train of thought. His brow furrowed, wondering who it could be and what could be so important to have his immediate attention.

"Come in." Xemnas' voice called to Demyx, and the Nocturne slowly opened the door, peeking his head inside. At first, the back of Xemnas' chair faced him, but the Superior slowly turned in his chair to face him, a trace of irritation in his expression. "What do you need, Number Nine?" Xemnas asked coolly, his fingertips drumming on the arm of his chair. He figured he wouldn't get too upset about the interruption; despite Demyx's tendency to not stay on task and pull mischievous pranks, he had never really crossed paths with Xemnas, so he figured he could cut Demyx a little slack.

"Sorry if I interrupted anything, sir..." Demyx replied sheepishly, his gaze falling to the floor. "I was wondering if you may have seen Axel or Roxas around lately…?"

Xemnas looked down at his desk, thinking back to when he saw the two last. "I do not recall seeing neither today." He looked up at Demyx. "Is that really all you came in here to ask me, Demyx? You should know by now that I am not to be disturbed unless it's very important or if I call for you."

"Yes sir, I do know that. I'm sorry." Demyx sighed; feeling defeated, and started to close the door.

"One moment," Xemnas said, causing Demyx to freeze in his place. Demyx stiffened. _Is he going to ask me about Vexen's lab and everything?! I'm so busted, _he thought (for once in his own head.)

"The Moogle hasn't shown up today," Xemnas began, reclining back a little in his chair. "So I have not been brought my lunch. Your task for the moment is to prepare me something and bring it back to me. And please use a portal this time." Xemnas sighed softly. "It will get cold by the time you get here if you walk."

"Yes sir," Demyx replied, containing his groan of frustration until after he had closed the door and walked a good ten feet away from the office. "You have two arms and two legs," Demyx mumbled under his breath as he summoned a portal. "You could do it yourself…I really wish Larxene didn't break the Wii, I could definitely go for some Guitar Hero about now…" he whined as he stepped through the portal, finding himself back in the kitchen. He seemed a little shocked that he had gotten there so quickly. "…Note to self, use the portal…"

He walked over to the refrigerator and opened it, a large variety of foods meeting his gaze. He quickly disregarded the vegan foods as an option; they were only there for Zexion and Marluxia, and for the record, even he wouldn't want to eat "Soy Bacon", and figured Xemnas wouldn't like it either.

Demyx saw something in a white Tupperware container and became curious. He grabbed the container and opened the lid, seeing the chili Xaldin had made the night before.

"I guess this'll do." He said, closing the refrigerator and throwing it in the microwave for a few minutes. As he stood there waiting, his mind started to wander. You got it; it wandered right into his Rave Party. His foot started to tap and his head started to rock a little to the made up beat in his head, smiling is goofy little smile.

**DINGGGGGGGGGGGG! **

"Wahh!" Demyx yelped, startled by the loud ding from the microwave. Rave time was over. Coming back to reality, he took the container out of the microwave and began to summon a portal, until his hand happen to brush by his pocket containing the vials, and a thought drifted into his head. Xemnas had said that he didn't see Axel or Roxas, but sooner or later, Demyx was sure that Xemnas would find out. Perhaps…

"No, no no!" Demyx shook his head. He loved to pull pranks, and he was quite proud of his tricks on Xigbar and Zexion, but Xemnas? That was a risk he wasn't quite sure he was ready to take. Or was he?

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the final red vial he had not used yet. "I would get in so much trouble if I did this," Demyx argued with himself. "…but if he got affected by the chemicals too, he would be too busy dealing with it to find out about Axel…" an impish smile spread across his face. If he was able to pull it off successfully, not only would his safety be assured, but it would be a major accomplishment in all of Prankdom.

Demyx took the vial and pulled the cork out with his teeth, quickly pouring the red liquid into Xemnas' chili, then stuffing the cork and empty vial in his pocket. Feeling giddy with anticipation, he found it hard to contain his goofy little smile as he summoned a portal and returned outside Xemnas' office.

_Tap, tap, tap. _

"Come in." Xemnas' voice called from within, and Demyx opened the door, trying his very best to not come off as suspicious as he approached the Superior, who seemed to be slightly surprised at how fast Demyx had gotten his food. There was even steam coming off of it, and Xemnas let his shoulders relax a little. He was getting a nice, hot meal for once.

"Here you go, Xemnas," Demyx said, handing the silver haired man the Tupperware container. "It's the chili from last night."

"Chili?" the Superior questioned, grasping the container and looking at its contents. "Ah, good. I enjoyed this last night. Thank you, Demyx." Xemnas was about to dig in until he noticed something odd. His golden gaze shifted from his meal to Demyx, about to question him, but to his surprise, the Nocturne had already disappeared out the door.

Xemnas sighed irritably._ The fool forgot to bring me a spoon, _he thought to himself, leaning back in his chair as he contemplated what to do. A few moments passed, and the Superior looked cautiously around his office, at his door, then out the glass wall behind him. Once he was sure there was no one around, he looked back down at his chili, and taking his index and middle finger, he stuck the gloved digits into the warm chili, scooping up a bit of it on his fingertips and inserting the digits into his mouth. _I suppose I can manage this way…_

* * *

_.::In the present...::._

"First things first," Saïx said, looking from Vexen to Roxas. "We have to contain the members that have already been affected." Roxas looked over his shoulder over at Zexion, who was still standing there with his arms folded, staring up at the ceiling as he gritted his teeth, then at Xigbar, who had his back turned to them again as he sniffled pitifully. _I'm sure that Zexion and Xigbar will be fine on their own, _Roxas thought, his brow furrowing. _It's Axel I'm worried about…_

"Xigbar," Saïx said, his gaze shifting to the pathetic looking man, who turned his head over his shoulder to look at him. "Until you can get your act together, you are to stay in your quarters. If you are caught wandering around in the Castle…" His blue hairs began to stand on end as he gave him a threatening glare. "You'll be sorry."

"You don't gotta be so mean about it…" Xigbar whimpered, folding his arms close to his chest as he began to walk down the hallway towards his room.

"BOO!" Zexion yelled at Xigbar as he walked by him. Xigbar screamed in fright, wailing as he ran down the hallway, disappearing around the corner as Zexion laughed evilly. "What a wimp."

"You watch your mouth, Zexion." Saïx growled, his hair still standing on end, giving him the same stare he had given Xigbar. Zexion looked up at him and quickly became silent. Even if he was filled with artificial rage, he still had the right mind not to piss off Saïx. "You are to do the same. I don't care how mad you are at Demyx, you will get your chance later. Now go."

"Tch," Zexion scoffed, rolling his eyes as he summoned a portal, and as he exited, he turned back to the trio and flipped his middle digit in their direction before disappearing. Saïx growled in response, but quickly regained his composure as he took in a deep breath, his hair settling back on his shoulders.

"What about Axel?" Roxas asked once the blue haired man had settled down.

"He is the top priority at this moment." He replied. "The three of us will split up and search for Number VIII. When he is found, he is to be confined in his own quarters until this all dies down. While you are searching, also keep an eye out for Demyx. He must not get anywhere near the Superior. Is that understood?"

Vexen and Roxas only nodded in response. As the elder members disappeared, Roxas found himself alone. He was about to summon his own portal until fatigue hit him like a mack truck. With a groan, the blonde stumbled back against the wall, propping himself up against it as he brought his palm to his forehead, trying to regain composure. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest at the task at hand, his head throbbing as the sickness from his carousel adventure caught up to him.

_I didn't realize how tired I am,_Roxas thought, feeling a bit faint. He massaged his temples, trying to find the strength to push himself just a little farther. _All I have to do is find Axel, and then I can finally rest in peace…_Roxas managed to pick himself up off the wall and summoned a portal. He figured that he should start in the very last place he would look for him, and that place would be the library.

* * *

"Well, well, well," A crisp voice with a hint of a British accent mused as Roxas entered the library. Roxas looked up to see Luxord, the Gambler of Fate, sitting at the large round table in the center of the room with his poker cards laid out before him. "What brings you here this afternoon, Roxas?"

"Are you playing poker with yourself?" Roxas asked, not quite sure of what the elder man was doing. Luxord shook his head.

"It's called Solitare," he grumbled as he picked up an ace and placed it farther to the upper right than the rest of the cards. "Though, I would greatly appreciate a round of poker with a fellow comrade."

"No thanks," Roxas said, immediately shaking his head. He had heard from Axel that Luxord was a beast at poker, and he would drain the munny out of every wallet in his wake. Roxas was saving up for a PSP, and he didn't want to risk losing his precious savings. "I came here looking for Axel. Have you seen him?"

The Gambler didn't even look at Roxas as he replied. "The only ones to pass through here today were Zexion, Vexen, Lexaeus and myself. I'm afraid you won't find Mr. Hot Head here."

Roxas sighed, feeling a bit defeated. "Thanks anyway, Luxord."

"No problem."

Just as Roxas turned around to exit, he felt something press up against his nose.

"Beep!"

"What the…?" Roxas crossed his eyes and saw that it was a slender digit. His gaze immediately shifted upward, and met the flaming green eyes that belonged to no one other than Axel.

"SEE!" Axel exclaimed, tossing his head back as he laughed. "I made you cross-eyed again! YOU IS LAME."

"Good lord," Luxord muttered, not even bothering to look up, figuring there was nothing going on out of the ordinary. "Can you butcher the English language any farther?"

"Why, yes," Axel smiled, looking over at the Gambler as he bounced from one foot to the other. "I is the smart, cuz I wented to the college place of learnmanship."

"What?" Luxord looked up from his Solitare gaze, looking the redhead up and down and giving a small scowl. "Is he drunk?"

"No, he's hyper from some chemical he drank of Vexen's." Roxas sighed, getting tired of explaining it.

"DING! WEEEEE HAVE A WINNER!" Axel slung his arm around Roxas shoulder and imitated holding a microphone with his other hand. "You've won the Grand Prize, my friend!" He pointed over towards Luxord. "Tell him what he won, Johnny Boy!"

"Figures." Luxord huffed, biting the inside of his cheek as he resumed his Solitare game.

"Axel," Roxas addressed Axel in a serious tone as he released his grip on the blonde. "I need you to come with me for a little while."

"Are we gonna play?!" Axel asked excitedly as flames spiraled down his arms, his trusty chakrams appearing in his hands. Roxas shook his head.

"No, I have to take you back to your room so you can calm down."

"But I'm PEACHY KEEN!" Axel whined, turning around to face Roxas. "I want someone to play with me!"

"Not now, Axel!" Roxas barked. "You are coming with me whether you like it or not!"

"Why should I?" Axel sneered, a familiar flare flashing in his eyes as he twirled his chakrams in his hands. Roxas became uneasy. Though Axel was in Hyper-Overdrive, Axel was still Axel. If he were to mistake Roxas' intentions as a challenge, it would spell disaster.

"I'm not looking for a fight," Roxas said sternly, his hands balling into fists, preparing for the worst. "I just need you to go back to your room for a bit is all."

"But it's SOOOOO BORING in my room!" Axel whined as he threw one of his chakrams up into the air, catching it with his index finger with ease. Roxas turned his head to Luxord, deep blue eyes begging silently for assistance. However, the man only shook his head with a snide smile. He was curious as to how this situation was going to turn out, to see how this boy was going to subdue the Flurry of Flames. Roxas scowled and turned back to Axel, who was bouncing from one foot to the other and snickering softly, his eyes still peering at Roxas mischeviously.

_It looks like I don't have a choice…_Roxas thought, frowning as he summoned his Oathkeeper and Oblivion. _I have to fight him to get him to listen to me._

"Oooh!" Axel squealed in excitement, flames spiraling down his forearms and combusting upon his chakrams, causing the weapons to burst into flames. "You're gonna play with me now?!"

"Like I have a choice," Roxas replied, gripping his Keyblades, trying his best not to look intimidated. It was common knowledge that fire is a dangerous thing, especially if it is out of control. It wasn't easy to keep fire under control, but Axel managed to do so. However, this time, Axel was not in the right state of mind to maintain his control over it.

This was a wildfire waiting to happen. And Roxas had the odds stacked against him.

"ME FIRST!" Axel shouted as he drew his hand back, throwing the weapon forward, the deadly fireball sailing towards Roxas. Thinking on his feet, Roxas quickly blocks the attack by holding his Keyblades in an "X" shape in front of his form. As the weapons made contact, Roxas could feel the blistering heat just inches away from his face. He had sparred with Axel before, but never had the flames been this hot and intense. The chakram, having failed to make contact, sailed back to it's master.

"Hold up now, kids," Luxord chimed in, his smile turning into a knowledgeable frown. "Take this scrap outside, this library is full of things that can be torched by a careless hand."

"How about I torch your face?!" Axel giggled, sending the chakram sailing towards the Gambler. In an instant, a large rectangular card flashed in front of the man's form, blocking the attack and sending it back to Axel. Axel caught it, a pout forming on his face.

"You guys are no fun," He muttered, his brow furrowing. "I'm supposed to win!"

"We don't want to fight you, Axel!" Roxas cried, now starting to get irritated. Axel's pout suddenly faded as his emerald gaze slowly scanned the room around them. Roxas gasped. "Don't you even-!"

"Maybe this will make you play with me!" Axel cried as he outstretched his arms, the chakrams' flames intensifying, and sent them both outward. The chakrams encircled the room, the flames catching hold of the books that encircled the room. When the chakrams had completed the maneuver, the entire library was encircled in a large wall of flames, with Axel blocking the only door.

There was no escape.

"The bloody idiot's going to kill us both!" Luxord snarled, jumping to his feet as his poker cards littered the floor. Roxas' eyes filled with fear as his hands began to tremble slightly. His first reaction would be to quickly portal to safety, but the thought was quickly halted at the thought of Axel's well being. Axel could handle the flames, yes, but at this rate, the entire library would cave in on him.

"AXEL!" Roxas yelled, catching the Flurry off guard as the boy lunged at him, quickly hooking each Keyblade in one of the chakrams and yanked them out of Axel's grasp, striking the Keyblades into the floor and pinning the chakrams down along with them. Axel just stared at his two beloved chakrams in amazement; play time was over.

"What was that for?!" Axel cried, his eyes growing wide. "I just wanted to play, geez!"

"This is your idea of playing?!" Roxas snarled, his gaze drilling into Axel's. Axel opened his mouth to retaliate when a loud, cracking noise was heard from above.

"The ceiling is burning!" Luxord said, a sliver of fear in his voice. "Both of you, portal out of here, now!" His last few words echoed as he portaled himself to safety. Roxas growled.

"I'm not leaving him behind!" Roxas retaliated, even though Luxord was long gone. _He's my friend! I don't care if I get hurt!_

"INCOMING!" A familiar voice shouted from outside the library.

_WOOOOOSSSHHH._

Roxas and Axel had very little time to react as a huge tidal wave bursted through the door and swept them off their feet and submerged them in the wild waves of water. The wakes smashed up against the walls, reaching even the highest flames at the ceiling and quickly extinguishing them. Roxas couldn't make sense of what was happening. One moment, he was in over his head in water, and the next, he found himself laying on the floor, soaking wet as the waters began to pull out. He could hear the faint echo of a familiar twang on a familiar sitar.

"Demyx!" Roxas shouted in relief, quickly sitting up to find the dirty blonde standing at the doorframe, his beloved sitar in hand.

"I knew it was you guys!" Demyx said, the instrument disappearing in a flurry of bubbles. Relief washed over Roxas like the waves had doused the flames. Demyx quickly hurried to Roxas' side, offering him a hand. "I've been looking everywhere!"

"Thank goodness, you came just in time." Roxas smiled as he took the other's hand, Demyx pulling him to his feet.

"Yeah, good thing, huh?" Demyx smiled. "I smelled the smoke…It smelled like burning waffles."

"Waffles?" Roxas gave him a weird look. Demyx shrugged.

"What? At least I came, didn't I?"

Harsh coughing could be heard in the corner, and the two looked over to see Axel on his knees, his spiked red hair flattened to his head from being drenched in water, coughing up the water he had swallowed during the ordeal.

"Uh oh…I totally forgot Axel couldn't swim…" Demyx muttered sheepishly, quickly making his way over to him and kneeling down before him. "You ok?"

"No!" Axel snarled as he reared up and grabbed Demyx by his collar, throwing him up against the wall. "I almost drowned! You of all people know I can't freaking swim!"

Demyx just stared at him, dumbfounded. So did Roxas.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Axel growled between clenched teeth. "If I weren't so wet, I'd fry you!"

"Axel's back!" Demyx cried for joy, breaking the Flurry's grasp and hugging the leaner man tightly. Axel's expression reflected pure disgust as he tried to pry the man away from him. But he was back, alright.

_How can that be? I thought the potion was supposed to last 12 hours, _Roxas thought, but at that point, it didn't matter. Roxas felt his knees grow weak and fell to the floor, sighing in relief. He had put every last bit of energy into fighting Axel earlier. _I honestly don't care. Just as long as he's back to normal, I really don't care how it happened._

Axel saw Roxas fall out of the corner of his eye, and with another demanding shove, he was able to shove Demyx away from him, his attention turning to his fallen friend.

"You alright, Roxas?" He asked as he approached and extended out a hand, but Roxas shook his head as he laid back down on the soaking carpet beneath him.

"I'm fine," Roxas replied, heaving another sigh. "I'm just exausted. I don't feel like moving another step."

"I guess that's my fault, huh?" Axel sighed, reaching up to wipe his face with his gloved hand, a small sizzling noise could be heard as he manipulated his body temperature to make the water evaporate off of his skin, creating steam. "I'm sorry, Roxas." Axel just shook his head. "I have no idea what happened to me back there…"

"You went crazy, that's what," Demyx piped in, approaching the pair. "I guess that means I didn't have to go look for these…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out empty vials. Demyx's sea blue-green eyes widened at the sight, as if he wasn't expecting them to be empty.

"What are those?" Axel asked, his brow perking.

"Um…they were supposed to be for you…"

"But you used them on Xigbar and Zexion, didn't you?" Roxas said tersely as he frowned. Demyx's gaze shifted to the ceiling. He figured he would be in enough trouble already…he would be digging his grave if he told them he had given some to Xemnas.

"Yea…"Demyx replied, frowning. "I didn't mean to at first…but I was just curious is all…" Axel quickly snatched the vials out of Demyx's hands, who yelped a little at the sudden action.

"You mean to tell me you gave this stuff to other people?" Axel frowned as he stuffed them into his pocket. "You're such an idiot…"

"I'm not the one who almost killed Roxas!" Demyx retorted, causing Axel's nostrils to flare threateningly.

"Shut up while you're ahead, Fishboy, or I'll_ break_ your back instead of sit on it."

Demyx quickly clammed up, reaching behind him and cringed as he reminisced about earlier.

"Wait a sec, Axel," Roxas said, trying to shift the conversation off the heavy topic. "Vexen said that the chemical was supposed to last 12 hours… how come you snapped out of it?" Axel's brow furrowed as he brought his freshly dried gloved hand to his chin, rubbing it thoughtfully.

"I'm not quite sure," Axel replied. "I just remember calming down after I coughed up all that water." After a few moments of silence, Axel's eyes lit up. "Demyx, when you went to go get the other vials, was the blender on?"

"Blender?" Demyx asked in a confused tone. Axel rolled his eyes.

"The CREMD, or whatever you called it."

"You mean the CRMDE?"

"Whatever."

"Yeah."

"I got a taste of the stuff before he turned it on a second time." Axel said, looking down at Roxas. "I got a less potent dose of it than what was in the other vials that Demyx had."

"Well that's a relief." Roxas sighed as a content smile crept upon his lips. If Axel had waited a little longer to burst down that door… they'd be crushed by now. But this meant that Zexion and Xigbar have 12 long hours ahead of them before they would return to normal. Roxas wasn't too worried about that. They could behave by themselves…Zexion might trash his room, though.

"And," Axel continued, a small smile creeping upon his own thin lips. "It's like when you take medicine. You aren't supposed to drink anything for a while, or the medicine doesn't work."

"So I saved you!" Demyx cheered, grinning from ear to ear. "See, water isn't so bad!"

"…This once." Axel huffed, rolling his eyes.

"You guys," Roxas said, looking up at both them as he yawned softly. "Do you think you could help me to my room…?" he asked bashfully. "I'd get up myself, but I can barely move my pinky finger."

"I don't blame you, after putting up with me like that for this long." Axel chuckled as he leaned down and picked up Roxas, slinging an arm over his shoulder. Demyx joined in, picking up the slack from the other side and slinging Roxas' other arm around his shoulder .

"You know, I think I'll follow your lead," Axel said as they walked out of the library (which was utterly ruined). "I can hear my precious bed calling my name."

The three of them laughed together as they walked down the hallway.

* * *

"Superior?!" Saïx gasped as he opened the door leading to Xemnas' office. His gaze was met with dozens of small kittens, mewling, yowling, and cooing filling the room.

"Oh, Saix!" Xemnas cooed as he popped out from behind his desk, holding a small white and black kitten close to him. "Look at this one! He's so ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!"

"Not you, too!" the Lunar Diviner growled, putting his hand over his face. "Xemnas, sir, what in the name of Kingdom Hearts are you doing with all of these….creatures?"

"They're kittens!" Xemnas purred, nuzzling the small kitten he had in his hands, totally ignorant to the kitten's protesting wails and flailing paws in a desperate attempt to escape. "They are the cutest things in the entire UNIVERSE! I must have more!" Xemnas' expression suddenly turned serious as he glared at Saïx. "I am postponing the mission of collecting hearts for Kingdom Hearts."

"But, sir-"

"Instead, you will all collect KITTENS for me! And that's an order!"

"But, sir-!"

"DO NOT QUESTION YOUR SUPERIOR! I SAID COLLECT KITTENS FOR ME, AND I MEAN IT NOW!"

Saïx bowed his head in defeat, at a loss of what to do next.

These were going to be a very long 12 hours.


End file.
